Almost lover
by Wishing I could Delete this
Summary: Somehow, he knew that she would be waiting for him." R&R, the gang talks about the past.


Disclaimer: I don't own Angel.

No spoilers for Angel, a little for Buffy, nothing to bad. Fred is in this, so takes place after Season two. No real time frame. Just a short one shot, please enjoy.

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_Start:_

"That's a cool ring, Angel, Where did you get it?" Fred asked, cramming another fry into her mouth. She smiled happily, dipping another one into a bat of ketchup while chewing. She glanced over to Gunn, and blushed slightly. He was still watching her.

He always watched her.

"Hm." Angel muttered, sipping slowly on his drink. The pigs blood tasted unusual, like the animal was sick with a disease before being slaughtered. It didn't taste well, but he was almost out and needed to drink.

"Er, that one." Fred said, pointing a long finger to a silver ring circling Angels ring finger. He followed her line of vision toward his left hand and noticed the silver gleam of the ring. Softly he placed his pigs blood on the table and shifted his weight in the chair.

"Which one?" Angel asked casually, indicating to the two silver rings, one on his thumb and the other on his wedding finger.

"The one with the heart." Fred smiled, moving forward as to touch it. Angel quickly reached again for his cup, ignoring Fred's outstretched hand. Fred's smile broke momentarily as she reeled back in her hand.

"It's just something that I have." Angel lied, twisting the band. He glanced up to look at Fred, she seemed almost disappointed.

"What are we talking about?" Cordelia asked, slamming a giant cup of coffee on the table where everyone was sitting and sliding into a chair by Wesley.

"Well, Fred just asked about one of Angel's rings." Wes told her quietly, pointing toward the object.

"You mean the crown, heart and hands one?" Cordelia frowned, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Lorne glanced at Angel and noticed his hand clenched.

"Y-yes." Fred said nervously, she saw the look on Angels face. She knew well enough by now not to upset Angel when he looked like that.

"Oh, that one. It's the one he gave Buffy for her birthday, they have the same rings." Cordelia answered, glaring at a unpolished spot on her nails. Normally she wouldn't have cared, in fact she hadn't cared in a while about her nails, not since High school at least. But she had just got them done as a present to herself.

"I wonder if Buffy wears hers, I've never really seen you without yours. It means love and loyalty right? I'm not sure, Isn't it a custom or something?" Cordelia directed that last part towards Angel, ignoring the grimace of pain that curved the corner of his mouth.

"Something like that." He growled, "But I don't think it's any of-"

"Buffy is the slayer, Right?" Gunn asked, cutting of Angel. He never really got to hear about her, her name was an unspoken no-no in the hotel. The only thing he knew was that she and Angel had a thing.

"Yeah, but he gave her the ring before she killed him." Cordelia sighed, flicking a chestnut colored strand out of her face. She saw the look of surprise that past Gunn's features and turned to Angel.

"You haven't told them?" Cordelia said almost stunned. She turned back toward Gunn.

"Do you know anything about Buffy?"

"Only that she's the slayer." Fred pipped up, shrugging one shoulder. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and glanced again at Gunn.

Cordy made a mental note to talk to her about that later.

"Oh, well, wow." Cordelia muttered, looking toward Wes. He knew almost as much as her, hadn't he at least told Fred and Gunn anything?

"W-What was she like?" Fred stuttered, a strange impulisve feeling of confidence invading her mind. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have asked.

"Buffy?" Cordelia smiled. "Well, she makes Angel look like a bunny."

Cordy smirked and watched Angels reaction carefully, his posture relaxed slightly and he unclenched his jaw to chuckle a little.

"She's really hard to describe, I guess you have to know her." Cordy smiled, fondly rubbing her kneck. Buffy had saved it so many times. "I can say however, that even though the most dangerous things happened around Buffy and the ones she knew, you were always safest around her."

"I remember the very brief time I was her watcher." Wes laughed, "God, I was such a wanker. Her and Faith, they were a handful. But Buffy, she was always the best. She complained a lot I'll admit, but she was always ready to do what she had to do."

"All she ever wanted was a normal life, not to be the slayer." Cordelia sighed. "I doubt she'll ever get it, Buffy is just to good to die." She paused, "All though I think she's died twice already."

"She died twice? I thought only the once." Fred gasped, "I feel so sorry for her. How did she die the first time?"

"Oh, a 'Master' Vampire drained and drowned her. It's nothing really, X-xander saved her." Cordy blushed lightly, thinking of the geeky black haired boy.

"Who's Xander?" Gunn questioned, looking toward Angel.

"A boy Cordy loved." Angel frowned, "I never liked him, he's always loved Buffy."

"I have you know he loved me too." Cordy sniffed, glaring spitefully at Angel. "Well, Buffy ran Angel threw with a sword and sent him to a Hell world for a hundred years."

"It was the only way to save the world." Angel growled. "She had too, and I also killed Jenny and tormented everyone around her. I would have done worse if I was her."

"What happened?" Fred wondered, she was still trying to process everything about Buffy as she could. She didn't like Angel anymore, but it would still be nice to know the girl that has his heart so tightly wrapped up.

"I lost my soul, turned into Angelus, killed anyone I saw, tortured Buffy, opened up a portal that would suck the whole world into hell and tried to slaughter her." Angel said ashamed, he still felt guilty. If he hadn't lost his soul, if he hadn't turned into Angelus, where would he be now?

Would he be with her, holding her in his arms? Would they be happy, living somewhere alone and private. Given the chance would he trade everything in for her? This life, right now. Knowing Fred, Gunn, Lorne, growing to love them all. Cordelia and Wesley, he once hated them both. Would he give up the thousands of people he rescued, just to be with her. To be with one girl, Buffy? Would he trade the people sitting around the table, the people he loved and thought of as family, for her?

He didn't hesitate to answer himself.

Yes.

Yes he would. He would trade the entire world, for one day with her. He would endure a thousand more years in the Hell dimension for her to _smile. _He would gladly stake himself if she asked him to.

He looked down at the ring again.

It was his promise, his promise to her. He would always love her, a thousand miles away and he could still feel her. Three years later he still yearned for her.

He needed her.

It was only a matter of time before he went crawling back to her, begging her to take him back. Begging for forgiveness and acceptance.

_'My daughter is a young girl, with her whole life a head of her. What can you offer?_'

Joyce Summers voice taunted him.

"What happened then?" Fred whispered, enthralled in the story. Gunn grinned slightly at her and turned to look back at Angel.

"Somehow I came back, I'm still not sure. Some great evil brought me back. Buffy found me, nursed me back to health, cared for me, even loved me again. It was to much for her to do for me. She hide me, slaved to keep me alive and strong. But she was in pain, I brought it all back. She was beginning to-to move on. But when she saw me it ruined everything. We tried it again, I was going to make it work. I couldn't loose her, not again. But then Faith-" Angel trailed off.

"If it wasn't for Faith, I don't think anything would have been the same." Angel continued. "If she hadn't betrayed us, helped the Mayor, if she hadn't twisted Buffy's mind, then prehaps we would still be together." But he couldn't just blame it on Faith, he'd always known he wasn't good enough for Buffy.

"Faith was a bitch." Cordy frowned, nodding her head in agreement.

"I couldn't take anymore of her life, Buffy deserves someone so much better then me, someone who can take her into the daylight and give her children and the things I know she wants."

"But all she wanted was you." Cordy finished. "Buffy didn't care, it didn't matter to her. Angel was her universe, he was her everything. She didn't need the giant yellow orb in the damn sky, all she needed was him, he was her sun." Cordy said to Fred.

Fred sighed, she always loved romantic stories.

"The mayor of our town was evil and there was this huge massive battle during my high school graduation day, well, nobody thought we'd live threw it. Angel left as soon as the battle was over, didn't even say goodbye."

"O-oh no." Fred cried, a few tears leaking from her eyes. "No, no no."

"Fred," Angel stammered in surprise, "Fred it's okay."

"But to leave, to just leave without talking to her, that's awful Angel. Oh god, How she must have felt, Angel I bet you broke her in half." Fred sobbed freely.

"Well, they've talked since Fred." Cordelia reminded her gently, rubbing soothing circles into the skinny girls back. Cordy was still surprised when she felt her ribs underneath the stretched skin. She knew what Pylea had taken from the girl, but it always surprised her how weak and physically harmed her body really was.

Although mentaly she was probably one of the strongest, she had a fire of her own, Cordy always worried about the girl.

"Still, you and Buffy should be together." Fred whimpered, jamming her palms to her eyes and wiping the tears away painfully.

"I know." Angel muttered, grabbing onto the table tightly.

"Here." Cordelia said, rummaging threw her bag on the back of her chair. In an instant she drew out a giant wallet and fumbled threw it.

After a few seconds she pulled out a few photographs and placed them in front of Fred. Fred blinked away the remaining tears and stared at the photos hard.

"Wow." She whispered, touching a picture of a blond girl. She was more beautiful then Fred had even dared believe, more powerful then she could even imagine. Even threw the relaxed posture and easy smile, her arms slung around a red haired girl who stood close to a black haired boy hugging Cordy, Fred could tell that she was powerful.

"This is Xander" Cordelia pointed out, trailing her finger of the black haired boys face. It was one of the better pictures of him, his hair had grown out slightly and she had picked out his shirt for that day.

"Oh, he's cute." Fred giggled as she spoke.

"Mhm, and the red head is Willow." Cordy grimaced. "She's Buffy's best friend, I use to be such a bitch to her."

Angel leaned over the table and glanced at a different picture, he had already seen the one Fred was looking at, Buffy had the same one hanging in her bedroom.

"That must be Buffy then" Gunn whistled, "She's a hot- erm, _attractive lady." _he corrected himself, noticing the small twitch in Angel's right eyebrow.

"Yah, that's Buffy." Wesley smiled, tilting his head to see the picture Gunn was glancing at. It was a seductive picture of Cordelia and Buffy.

"Cord, I never knew you and Buffy went out together." Wes stated, wondering how on earth Buffy had left her alive.

"Well, I dragged her to a frat house one night this was one of the only pictures that's just me and her. I don't know why I still have it."

"Here, let me see baby doll." Lorne said, pulling the picture away from Gunn. He glanced down and widened his eyes.

"You let _that_ go Angel?" Lorne winced "And Cordy, you were devilishly gorgeous, not that you aren't now, but wow."

"I had to."

Angel trailed a finger across his ring again, was Buffy wearing hers? Somehow he knew that she probably wasn't, that it was most likely tucked away in a wooden box on her dresser. But maybe, maybe she was wearing it.

Cordy gathered up the pictures and placed them back inside of her wallet, they talked enough about Buffy, it was time to move on.

"Angel, do you ever think you'll be with her again?" Fred whispred. The question seemed to personal to ask loudly, it deserved to be whispered.

It took a second for Angel to respond.

"It's the only reason I fight everyday." To become mortal, to be a man. So that he could arrive in the sun and take her out in the day, to give her childern and grow old with her.

How much longer did he need to fight? She was twenty-one now, it had only been three years since graduation. Would she still be waiting for him when she was thirty, fifty, eighty years old?

"I'd like to meet her." Fred sighed, glancing over at Gunn.

"Someday, I bet you will." Cordelia smiled. "now, will somebody please tell me who the hell left the demon head on the counter? Were running a business you know, not some morgue."

"Well you see, Cordy-" Gunn began "I didn't mean to leave it there, only everyone was sitting down so I thought it might be important so-"

"You have five seconds to dispose of it or I'll kill you." Cordy glared, smacking his shoulder lightly. "I'm not kidding either."

"Watch out Gunn, she means it." Angel laughed, placing his hand over the part of his chest that held his nonexistent heart.

"Your next buddy." Cordelia glared.

Cordy glanced over toward Angel, she didn't know if he'd ever get over Buffy. But it seemed to unlikely that they'd ever be given the chance to be together again. The thought made her angry, Angel deserved a life with Buffy, a normal life.

He deserved his day in the sun.

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I hope you liked it, tell me what you think:)


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